Image processing method and apparatus

Abstract: In variably magnifying and outputting an image, proper variable magnification processing is performed with respect to a character/line draw component and a pseudo-halftone component, respectively. A binary image acquired by a binary image acquiring unit is supplied to an image area separating unit, in which the binary image is separated into a character/line draw area and a pseudo-halftone area. An image in the character/line draw area is supplied to an outline variable magnification unit, which performs extraction of outline vector data, smoothing processing thereof, and reproduction processing of a binary image. An image in the pseudo-halftone area is supplied to a pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit, in which the image is subjected to multivalue conversion processing in units of pixels, variable magnification processing by thinning or interpolation of pixels, and binarization again. A synthesizing unit synthesizes binary images output from these variable magnification unit and outputs the synthesized image to a binary image output unit.

Description: The invention relates to image processing apparatus and the corresponding method, which extracts the contours of a bitmap image such as a binary image and executes an image processing. From EP-A-0 407 213 is known an image processing apparatus comprising an image area discriminating circuit for discriminating the attribute of an image, such as whether it is a character line image or a dot image or whether or not it is an isolated point noise and outputting a discrimination result, an enlargement/reduction processing circuit for performing enlargement/reduction processing on an image and a filtering circuit for controlling the spatial frequency response of an image in accordance of a discrimination signal. From JP-A-110 66 71 is known an image processing apparatus for improving a variable magnification image quality by inputting a variable magnification output for a halftone image in the case of a halftone and a variable magnification output for a binary image in the case of a binary image based on an identification result of the image. It is the object of the invention to propose an improved image processing apparatus and an improved image processing method. This object is achieved by the features mentioned in the independent claims. The invention is further developed by the features mentioned in the subclaims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image area separating unit in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view for explaining processing performed by an isolated pixel determining unit of the image area separating unit; Fig. 4 is a view showing an area to be referred to by the isolated pixel determining unit; Fig. 5 is a view for explaining the contents of processing performed by a periodicity determining unit of the image area separating unit; Fig. 6 is a view for explaining processing performed by a high-frequency component determining unit of the image area separating unit; Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a data holding unit of the image area separating unit; Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit in Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is a view for explaining inverse quantization processing in the pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit; Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an outline variable magnification unit in Fig. 1; Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a synthesizing unit in Fig. 1; Fig. 12 is a block diagram for explaining outline vector extraction processing; Fig. 13 is a view for explaining outline vector extraction processing; Fig. 14 is a view for explaining outline vector extraction processing; Fig. 15 is a view for explaining outline vector extraction processing; Fig. 16 is a view showing the format of extracted coarse contour vector data; Fig. 17 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an outline smoothing/variable magnification unit; Fig. 18 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a system; Fig. 19 is a flow chart showing a procedure for image processing; Fig. 20 is a view showing an example of the first smoothing processing; Fig. 21 is a view showing a data format after the second smoothing processing; Fig. 22 is a view showing an example of the second smoothing processing; Fig. 23 is a view showing an area referred to by an inverse quantization processing unit and coefficients set in the area in the fifth embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 24 is a view showing another area referred to by the inverse quantization processing unit and other coefficients set in the area in the fifth embodiment; Figs. 25A and 25B are views for explaining smoothing processing in a first smoothing unit; Fig. 26 is a view for explaining smoothing processing in the first smoothing unit; Fig. 27 is a view for explaining smoothing processing in the first smoothing unit; Fig. 28 is a view for explaining smoothing processing in the first smoothing unit; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The assignee of the present application has already made the following proposals as Japanese Patent Application Nos. 3-345062 and 4-169581. In each of these proposals, when a binary image is to be variably magnified and output, the contour information of the binary image is extracted, and a magnified image is formed on the basis of the extracted contour information instead of variably magnifying the binary image itself. It is an object of each proposal to obtain an image with high quality. More specifically, in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-345062, outline vectors are extracted from a binary image, a magnifying operation is performed at a desired (arbitrary) magnification in the state of the extracted outline vector expression to form smoothly magnified outline vectors, and a binary image is reproduced from the smoothly magnified outline vectors. With this operation, a high-quality digital binary image magnified at a desired magnification is obtained. The main part of this proposal will be briefly described below. Fig. 12 is a block diagram most properly representing the characteristic features disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-345062. Referring to Fig. 12, reference numeral 1 denotes a binary image acquiring unit for acquiring a digital binary image to be subjected to variable magnification processing, and outputting a binary image according to a raster scanning scheme; 2, an outline extracting unit for extracting coarse contour vectors (outline vectors before smoothing/variable magnification processing) from the binary image of the raster scanning scheme; 3, an outline smoothing/variable magnification unit for performing smoothing/variable magnification processing of the coarse contour vectors in the form of vector data; 4, a binary image reproducing unit for reproducing binary image data of the raster scanning scheme from outline vector data; and 5, a binary image output unit for displaying the binary image data of the raster scanning scheme, producing a hard copy, or outputting the data to a communication line or the like. For example, the binary image acquiring unit 1 is constituted by a known raster scanning type binary image output unit for reading an original image as a binary image and outputting the read image according to the raster scanning scheme. For example, the outline extracting unit 2 is constituted by a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-281958 previously proposed by the assignee of the present application. Fig. 13 shows a scanning form for raster scanning type binary image data output from the binary image acquiring unit 1, and also a scanning form for raster scanning type binary image data received by the outline extracting unit 2. In this form, the outline extracting unit 2 receives raster scanning type binary image data output from the binary image acquiring unit 1. Referring to Fig. 13, reference numeral 101 denotes a given pixel of a binary image during a raster scanning operation; and 102, a nine-pixel area including eight pixels adjacent to the pixel 101. The above outline extracting unit disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-281958 switches target pixels in the raster scanning order, and detects a contour side vector (horizontal or vertical vector) between each target pixel and each adjacent pixel in a nine-pixel area denoted by reference numeral 102 in accordance with the state of each pixel (white or black pixel). If a contour side vector is present, the outline extracting unit extracts the start coordinates and direction data of the side vector, and sequentially extracts coarse contour vectors while updating the relationship in connection between these side vectors. Fig. 14 shows a state wherein contour side vectors between a target pixel and pixels adjacent to the target pixel are extracted. Referring to Fig. 14, a mark Δ represents the start point of a vertical vector (or the end point of a horizontal vector), and a mark ○ represents the start point of a horizontal vector (or the end point of a vertical vector). Fig. 15 shows coarse contour vector loops extracted by the outline extracting unit described above. In this case, each square defined by the matrix indicates a pixel position of an input image; each blank square, a white pixel; and each hatched mark ○, a black pixel. Similar to Fig. 14, each mark Δ represents the start point of a vertical vector; and each mark ○, the start point of a horizontal vector. As is apparent from the case shown in Fig. 15, the outline extracting unit extracts areas where black pixels are coupled to each other as coarse contour vectors alternately (always alternately) continuous with each other, although horizontal and vertical vectors differ in length. Note that in this case, extraction processing is performed such that a black pixel area is located on the right side with respect to the direction of the extraction processing. In addition, the start point coordinates of each coarse contour vector are extracted as the middle position of each pixel of an input image. That is, when the position of each pixel is expressed by integers (x,y), the start point of an extracted vector is expressed by values obtained by adding or subtracting 0.5 to or from the respective coordinate values. More specifically, a line portion having a width corresponding to one pixel in an original image is also extracted as a coarse contour vector having a significant width. The coarse contour vector group extracted in this manner is output from the outline extracting unit 2 in Fig. 12 according to a data format like the one shown in Fig. 16. That is, the coarse contour vector group is constituted by a total number a of coarse contour loops extracted from an image, and a group of coarse contour loop data of the first contour loop to the ath contour loop. Each coarse contour loop data is constituted by the total number of the start points of contour side vectors (equivalent to the total number of contour side vectors) present in the coarse contour loop, and a sequence of the values (the start points of horizontal and vertical vectors are alternately arranged) of the start point coordinates (x- and y-coordinates) of the respective contour side vectors in the order of constituting the loop. The outline smoothing/variable magnification unit 3 shown in Fig. 12 receives the coarse contour vector data (Fig. 16) output from the outline extracting unit 2, and performs variable magnification processing for smoothing and a desired magnification in the form of outline vector data (coordinate value). Fig. 17 shows the arrangement of the outline smoothing/variable magnification unit 3 in more detail. Referring to Fig. 17, reference numeral 310 denotes a magnification setting unit; and 320, a first smoothing/variable magnification unit. The first smoothing/variable magnification unit 320 performs smoothing and variable magnification processing of input coarse contour data at a magnification set by the magnification setting unit 310. A second smoothing unit 330 further performs smoothing of the processing result to obtain a final output. The magnification setting unit 310 may supply a value set by a dip switch, a dial switch, or the like in advance to the first smoothing/variable magnification unit 320, or may supply a value externally provided via an I/F (interface). That is, the magnification setting unit 310 is a unit for providing information designating specific magnifications respectively in the main scanning (horizontal) direction and the sub-scanning (vertical) direction with respect to an image size supplied as input data. The first smoothing/variable magnification unit 320 receives magnification information from the magnification setting unit 310 and performs smoothing/variable magnification processing. Fig. 18 shows a hardware arrangement for realizing outline smoothing/variable magnification processing. Referring to Fig. 18, reference numeral 71 denotes a CPU; 72, a disc unit; 73, a disc I/O; 74, a ROM for storing operation procedures executed by the CPU 71; 75, an I/O port; 76, a RAM (random access memory); and 77, a bus connected to each of the above blocks. The output (shown in Fig. 13) from the outline extracting unit is stored, as a file (coarse contour vector data), in the disc unit 72 according to the data format shown in Fig. 16. The CPU 71 operates in accordance with the procedure shown in Fig. 19 to execute outline smoothing/variable magnification processing. In step S1, the CPU 71 reads out coarse contour data from the disc unit 72 via the disc I/O 73, and loads it in a working memory area (not shown) of the RAM 76. In step S2, the CPU 71 performs first smoothing/variable magnification processing. The first smoothing processing is performed for each closed loop of the coarse contour data. Each contour side (horizontal or vertical vector) vector of each coarse contour data is sequentially set as a target vector, and at most three continuous side vectors before and after each target contour side vector (i.e., at most a total of seven side vectors, i.e., three sides before the target side and three sides after the target side) are classified into a pattern according to a combination of the lengths and directions of the side vectors. A contour point after the first smoothing processing as the first smoothing result with respect to each target side is defined with respect to each pattern. The CPU 71 then outputs additive information (to be referred to as corner point information hereinafter) indicating the coordinate value of each contour point after the first smoothing processing and whether the contour point is a point at a corner. In this case, a "point at a corner" unit a point located at a significant corner, and is discriminated from points derived from noise and points derived from jagged portions and notches caused by other factors. A contour point (to be referred to as a corner point hereinafter) after the first smoothing processing which is determined as a corner point is treated as a point which is not smoothed by the second smoothing processing, i.e., treated as a fixed point. In other words, a contour point (to be referred to as a non-corner point hereinafter) after the first smoothing processing which is not determined as a corner point is further smoothed by the second smoothing processing. Fig. 20 shows this state, i.e., a target coarse contour side vector Di, three side vectors Di-1, Di-2, and Di-3 before the target coarse contour side vector, three side vectors Di+1, Di+2, and Di+3 after the target coarse contour side vector, and a contour point after the first smoothing processing which is defined with respect to the target edge Di. That is, a vector (an oblique vector is allowed) connecting contours redefined in this manner is formed. Figs. 25A to 28 show contour vector patterns and examples of how corresponding target contour vectors are redefined. Fig. 25A shows a case wherein a target vector 700 located in the middle of five continuous contour vectors has a length of "1", vectors 701 and 702 immediately before and after the target vector 700 respectively have lengths of "-1" and "1", and each of vectors 705 and 706 two vectors before and after the target vector 700 has a length of "3" or more. Fig. 25B shows a case wherein a target vector 700 located in the middle of five continuous contour vectors has a length of "1", vectors 703 and 704 immediately before and after the target vector 700 respectively have lengths of "1" and "-1", and each of vectors 707 and 708 two vectors before and after the target vector 700 has a length of "3" or more. Each of Figs. 25A and 25B shows a one-pixel notch unique to a binary image obtained by binarizing data read by an image reader or the like. In this case, when a contour vector is redefined, a contour point is defined upon elimination of the notch portion, thereby removing the notch. Referring to Fig. 26, reference numeral 810 denotes an image in which notches are continuously produced. In this case, all the contour vectors have a length of "1". Contour vectors 805 and 802 two vectors before and after a target vector 800 point in the same direction. Contour vectors 805 and 802 immediately before and after the target vector point in different directions, and so do contour vectors 806 and 803 three vectors before and after the target vector. Assume that a target vector is a horizontal vector. In this case, the x-coordinate value of the target vector is set to have the same value as that of the middle point of the target vector, and the y-coordinate value of the target vector is set to have the same value as that of the middle point of a contour vector immediately before the target vector, thereby defining a contour point after the first smoothing processing. Assume that a target vector is a vertical vector. In this case, the x-coordinate value of the target vector is set to have the same value as that of the middle point of a contour vector immediately before the target vector, and the y-coordinate value of the target vector is set to have the same value as that of the middle point of the target vector, thereby defining a contour point after the first smoothing processing. Referring Fig. 29, reference numeral 811 denotes a contour obtained by smoothing the image 810. Fig. 27 is a view for explaining processing for making a moderately inclined portion more moderate. Assume that a target contour vector 901 has a length of "3", and both contour vectors before and after the target vector 901 point in the same direction and have a length of "1". In addition, assume that both contour vectors two vectors before and after the target vector 901 point in the same direction and have a length of "1". In this case, the middle point of the target contour vector 901 is redefined as a contour point. With this operation, a stepped portion denoted by reference numeral 910 in Fig. 27 is smoothed as indicated by a dotted line 911 in Fig. 27. Fig. 28 is a view for explaining processing for obtaining a sharp image by further smoothing inclined line portion and retaining a corner portion intact at a position near a point of contact between the inclined line portion and the fine corner portion. In this case, a target vector 920 is smoothed in the same manner as in Fig. 27. However, since a contour vector 921 immediately before the target vector 920 and a contour vector 922 before the contour vector 921 indicate that a pixel indicated by a mark o ○ is located at a corner portion (corner point), this contour point is not subjected to the second smoothing processing (to be described later). Therefore, a portion, of the target vector 920, extending from its middle point in the main scanning direction is smoothed, as indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 28. The above description is associated with pixel patterns to be subjected to the first smoothing processing, which is a general description of the processing executed by a smoothing unit 102 in this embodiment. Note that smoothing may be performed with respect to patterns other than those described above in practice. The processing in this first smoothing unit is the process of smoothing an image by pattern matching. Owing to this processing, thickening, thinning, or the like of an image may occur in a small area corresponding to about one pixel at most. The contents of the first smoothing processing have been described above. Data after the first smoothing processing are sequentially constructed on a predetermined area of the RAM 76. The processing in step S2 in Fig. 20 is completed in this manner, and the CPU 71 performs the second smoothing processing in step S3. In the second smoothing processing, data after the first smoothing processing is input and processed. That is, the CPU 71 receives data indicating the number of closed loops, data indicating the number of contour points of each closed loop, the coordinate value data string of contour points of each closed loop after the first smoothing processing, and the additive information data string of the contour points of each closed loop after the first smoothing processing, and outputs contour point data after the second smoothing processing. As shown in Fig. 21, the contour data after the second smoothing processing is constituted by the number of closed loops, a contour point count table for each closed loop, and the coordinate value data of the contour points of each closed loop after the second smoothing processing. The second smoothing processing will be briefly described below with reference to Fig. 22. Similar to the first smoothing processing, in the second smoothing processing, processing is performed in units of contour loops, while processing is performed in units of contour points in each contour loop. If a target contour point is a corner point, an input contour point coordinate value is used as contour point coordinate data which has undergone the second smoothing processing with respect to the target contour point. That is, no change is made. If a target contour point is a non-corner point, a coordinate value obtained from the weighted mean of the coordinate values of contour points before and after the target contour point and the coordinate value of the target contour point is used as a contour point coordinate value which has undergone the second smoothing processing with respect to the target contour point. More specifically, letting Pi(xi,yi) be the target input contour point as the non-corner point, Pi-1(Xi-i,yi-1) be the contour point immediately before the target contour point in the input contour loop, Pi+1(xi+1,yi+1) be the contour point immediately after the target contour point, and Qi(x'i,y'i) of the contour point which has undergone the second smoothing processing with respect to the target input contour point Pi, x'i = ki-1·xi-1 + ki·xi + ki+1·xi+1 y'i = ki-1·yi-1 + ki·yi + ki+1·yi+1 In this case, ki-1 = ki+1 = 1/4 and ki = 1/2. Referring to Fig. 22, points P0, P1, P2, P3, and P4 form a part of a series of continuous contour points, as input data, which have undergone the first smoothing processing, points P0 and P4 are corner points, and points P1, P2, and P3 are non-corner points. The processing results obtained at this time are respectively indicated by points Q0, Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. Since the points P0 and P4 are corner points, their coordinate values are used as the coordinate values of the points Q0 and Q4 without any modification. The point Q1 has coordinate values calculated from the points P0, P1, and P2 according to the above equations. Similarly, the points Q2 and Q3 respectively have coordinate values calculated from the points P1, P2, and P3 and the points P2, P3, and P4 according to the above equations. The CPU 71 performs the second smoothing processing with respect to the contour data in a predetermined area of the RAM 76, which has undergone the first smoothing processing, in the above-described manner. In the second smoothing processing, processing is sequentially performed for each loop in an order of the first loop, the second loop, the third loop.... When processing with respect to all loops is completed, the second smoothing processing is ended. In each loop, processing is sequentially performed in an order of the first point, the second point, the third point.... When the processing indicated by equations (1) is completed with respect all the contour points in one loop, the processing of this loop is ended, and the next loop is processed. Assume that L contour points are present in a loop. In this case, a point before the first point is the Lth point, and a point after the Lth point is the first point. The contour point data obtained by the second smoothing processing has the same total number of loops as that of the contour data after the first smoothing processing, with the number of contour points on each loop remaining the same. The CPU 71 outputs the above result to another area of the RAM 76 or the disc unit 72 according to the format shown in Fig. 21, and completes the second smoothing processing (step S3). The flow then advances to step S4 to transfer the data obtained by the second smoothing processing to the binary image reproducing unit 4 via the I/O port 75, thereby completing the series of operations shown in Fig. 19. For example, the binary image reproducing unit 4 can be constituted by a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-172098 proposed by the assignee of the present application. This device can output a binary image according to the raster scanning scheme, which image is formed by painting an area enclosed with a vector graphic pattern expressed by contour data, obtained by the second smoothing processing and transferred via an I/O, on the basis of the contour data. In addition, according to the description of this proposal, binary image data is visualized by using a binary image output unit such as a video printer. The proposal disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-169581 is an improvement on Japanese Patent Application No. 3-345062 described above. This proposal aims at preventing an image magnified at a low magnification from excessive thickening. More specifically, in the outline extracting unit in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-345062, a boundary located midway between white and black pixels of an original image is set as a target subjected for vector extraction. In the improved proposal, however, a vector is extracted at a position located between white and black pixels and closer to the black pixel (i.e., a black pixel area is set to be smaller in width than a white pixel area), and outline smoothing is performed in accordance with this vector extraction. In the above case, although characters, line drawings, tables, graphic patterns, and the like can be processed to obtain good results, a deterioration in image quality may occur in pseudo-halftone images formed by the dither method, the error diffusion method, and the like. More specifically, in the above case, attention is paid to each black pixel area in a white (background) area in a binary image, and contour vectors are extracted at the boundaries between white pixel areas and black pixel areas. Processing is then performed in units of contour vector loops. For this reason, removal of noise and smoothing are performed for even isolated points and black pixel coupled components constituted by several pixels coupled to each other in a scalelike form, which points and components are unique to a pseudo-halftone image. Therefore, an apparent density obtained by an area gradation expression of a pseudo-halftone image may change, and a unique texture is further emphasized, resulting in a deterioration in image quality. In addition, in outline processing, an image is treated as vector data using coordinate values. For this reason, in processing an original image, such as a pseudo-halftone image, which is constituted by many isolated point and black pixel coupled components, each consisting of a small number of pixels, the vector data amount considerably increases as compared with the capacity of the original image data, or the processing time is extremely prolonged. The first embodiment of the present invention can solve the above problems. The first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an apparatus of this embodiment. Referring to Fig. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a binary image acquiring unit for acquiring a digital binary image subjected to variable magnification processing, and outputting a binary image 17 of the raster scanning scheme; 12, an image area separating unit for separating the binary image data (signal) 17 of the raster scanning scheme from the binary image acquiring unit 11 into pseudo-halftone component image data 18 and other component image data (to be referred to as character/line draw component image data hereinafter) 19; 13, an outline variable magnification unit for extracting outline vectors from an input image, performing smoothing/variable magnification processing in the form of the extracted outline vector data, and reproducing, as binary image data of the raster scanning scheme, a binary image expressed by outline vector data obtained by the smoothing/variable magnification processing, thereby obtaining a magnified image; 14, a pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit which operates according to a scheme different from that for the outline variable magnification unit 13; 15, a synthesizing unit for synthesizing an output 20 from the outline variable magnification unit 13 and an output 21 from the pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit 14 to generate a magnified image 22 with respect to the overall binary image data 17 of the raster scanning scheme; and 16, a binary image output unit for displaying the obtained magnified image, producing a hard copy, or outputting the image data to a communication line or the like. The binary image acquiring unit 11 is constituted by a known raster scanning type binary image output unit for reading an image by using, e.g., an image reader, and outputting binary image data according to the raster scanning scheme. Note that binary image acquiring unit 11 may be a unit for loading data from a storage medium in which binary image data is stored, or a unit for converting an image photographed by a still camera into a binary image as long as a binary image can be obtained. Fig. 2 shows the arrangement of the image area separating unit 12. Referring to Fig. 2, reference numeral 30 denotes a data holding unit for sequentially updating/holding each pixel value in each small area which is required for image separation processing. For example, the data holding unit 30 holds data corresponding to 8 x 8 pixels at maximum, i.e., 64 pixels around a target pixel, with respect to digital binary image data input according to the raster scanning scheme. The data holding unit 30 updates its contents in synchronism with an update operation with respect to the position of a target pixel (sequentially moved according to the raster scanning scheme). Fig. 7 shows an arrangement of the data holding unit 30. Reference numeral 31 denotes a line buffer group, constituted by FIFOs, for holding data corresponding to seven rasters (scanning lines) immediately before the currently input raster; and 32, a latch group for storing/holding a total of 64 data, eight-pixel data per-raster. Referring to Fig. 2, reference numeral 40 denotes an image area determining unit for determining, on the basis of the data of a pixel group including a target pixel and constituting a small area, which is output from the data holding unit 30, whether the target pixel in the small area should be considered as a pixel in a pseudo-halftone area. The image area determining unit 40 is constituted by three types of determining sections, i.e., an isolated pixel determining unit 41, a periodicity determining unit 42, and a high-frequency component determining unit 43, for respectively determining whether different conditions are satisfied. If at least one of the above conditions is satisfied, it is determined that the target pixel is a pixel in the pseudo-halftone area. The isolated pixel determining unit 41 performs determination processing with respect to each of 16 pixels in a 4 x 4 pixel area denoted by reference numeral 322 in Fig. 3, i.e., a width of four pixels in the main scanning direction and a width of four pixels in the subscanning direction. More specifically, as shown in Fig. 4, the isolated pixel determining unit 41 detects whether four pixels, i.e., upper, lower, left, and right pixels (a position (k,ℓ-1) is an upper position; a position (k,ℓ+1), a lower position; a position (k-1,ℓ), a left position; and a position (k+1,ℓ), a right position) are pixels of the same color (i.e., white or black pixels), and also differ in color from a pixel at a position (k,ℓ). If each pixel in a 4 x 4 pixel area is set at the position (k,ℓ), 16 results are obtained. If two or more results of these results satisfy the above condition, it is determined that a representative pixel 321 in the 4 x 4 pixel area 322 is in an isolated pixel area. That is, if the pixel 321 is a target pixel, it is checked whether two or more isolated pixels (i.e., an isolated pixel is a black or white pixel isolated from other pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions) are present in the 16 pixels in the adjacent pixel area 322. If two or more isolated pixels are present, it is determined that the target pixel 321 is located within an isolated pixel area. In determining whether each of the 16 pixels in the adjacent pixel area 322 is an isolated pixel, the isolated pixel determining unit 41 refers to each pixel value of an area (enclosing the 4 x 4 pixel area 322) consisting of 32 pixels enclosed with a broken line 323. Assume that in determining an isolated pixel, the pixel value at a position (i,j) is V(i, j), V(i, j) = 1 indicates a black pixel, and V(i,j) = 0 indicates a white pixel. In this case, a determination result R(k,ℓ) can be obtained by a logic circuit for executing the following logical expression: R(k,ℓ) = (V(k,ℓ)·NOTV(k,ℓ-1)·NOTV(k-1,ℓ)· NOTV(k,ℓ+1)·NOTV(k+1,ℓ)) + (NOTV(k,1)·V(k,ℓ-1)·V(k- 1,ℓ)·V(k,ℓ+1)·V(k+1,ℓ)) In this expression, "·" indicates logical AND; "+", logical OR; and "NOT", inversion (negation) of logical value. The order of priority of operations is "NOT" > "·" > "+" (NOT is operated first). Of the two terms of the right side of the above expression, the first term is operated to determine whether it is true that a target pixel is black and all adjacent pixels are not black pixels (i.e., all adjacent pixels are white pixels). The second term is operated to determine whether it is true that a target pixel is white, and all adjacent pixels are not white pixels (i.e., all adjacent pixels are black pixels). If one of the terms is true, the result (true = 1) is returned to R(k,ℓ). If it is determined that both the terms are false, the result (false = 0) is returned to R(k,ℓ). In this manner, results "1" (indicating "true" determined by the above determination processing) of 16 results R(k,ℓ) may be counted. In this case, 16 results R(k,ℓ) may be input according to an LUT (look-up table) scheme, and "1" may be output when two or more of the results indicate "1". The periodicity determining unit 42 determines whether four pixels (e.g., pixels A, B, C, and D indicated by hatching in Fig. 5), of 64 pixels in an 8 x 8 pixel area 324 having a width of eight pixels in the main scanning direction and a width of eight pixels in the subscanning directions, which are separated from each other by four pixels in the main scanning direction and/or separated from each other by four pixels in the subscanning direction have the same pixel value. The periodicity determining unit 42 performs such determination processing except for a case wherein all the 64 pixels are white or black pixels. In a 64 x 64 pixel area, 16 combinations of four pixels having a relative position relationship like the one between the pixels A, B, C, and D can be defined. For example, a combination of pixels A', B', C', and D' shown in Fig. 5 is one of such combinations. That is, when the pixel A can be set at 16 positions in an area enclosed with a broken line 325, the positions of the pixels B, C, and D can be set accordingly while each pixel is kept relatively separated from the pixel A by four pixels in the main scanning and subscanning directions. Therefore, a total of 16 combinations are set. In this embodiment, it is checked for each of these 16 combinations whether the pixel values of four pixels are the same. It is also checked whether the above condition is satisfied in 14 or more combinations. If YES is obtained in this determination step, it is determined, except for a case wherein all the 64 pixels are white or black pixels, that a periodic portion (i.e., a dither portion) is present. If the value of the pixel A is expressed as V(m,n), the values of the pixels B, C, and D can be expressed as V(m+4,n), V(m+4,n+4), and V(m,n+4), respectively. A determination result S(m,n) indicating whether all the four pixels A, B, C, and D have the same pixel value can be given by the following logical expression. The meaning of this logical expression is apparent from the above description. S (m, n) = V(m,n)·V(m+4,n)·V(m+4,n+4)·V(m,n+4) + NOT(V(m,n) + V(m+4,n) + V(m+4,n+4) + V(m,n+4)) Of 16 results S(m,n) obtained in this manner, results indicating "1" are counted to check whether the number of such results is 14 or more. It is also checked whether all the 64 pixels have the same pixel value (the logical AND of all the 64 input pixel values is "1" or the logical OR thereof is "0"). In this case as well, instead of counting results, 16 results S (m,n) may be input by using an LUT, and "1" is output when 14 or more of the results indicate "1". Consider 36 pixels in a 6 x 6 pixel area (denoted by reference numeral 326 in Fig. 6) having a width of six pixels in the main scanning direction and a width of six scanning lines in the subscanning direction. In this case, there are a total of 60 combinations of two pixels, i.e., 30 combinations (indicated by two-headed arrows in Fig. 6 in the horizontal direction) of two pixels adjacent to each other in the horizontal (main scanning) direction and 30 combinations (indicated by two-headed arrows in Fig. 6 in the vertical direction) of two pixels adjacent to each other in the vertical (subscanning) direction. The high-frequency component determining unit 43 checks whether there are 28 or more combinations of two adjacent pixels, of the 60 combinations, which have different pixel values. If there are 28 or more such combinations, the high-frequency component determining unit 43 determines that the area 326 is a high-frequency component area. Whether two different pixels have different pixel values can be easily determined by calculating the exclusive OR of the pixel values of the two pixels. 60 results are totalized by using a counter or several LUTs (e.g., four LUTs, each for totalizing 15 results) and an adder, and whether a totalization result is 28 or more can be determined by using a comparator. Referring back to Fig. 2, reference numeral 44 denotes a three-input OR circuit 44 for receiving outputs from the isolated pixel determining unit 41, the periodicity determining unit 42, and the high-frequency component determining unit 43 and outputting the logical OR of the outputs, as an output from the image area determining unit 40. That is, the OR circuit 44 (the image area determining unit 40) outputs a signal indicating that a target area is in a pseudo-halftone area when it is determined that the target pixel is located in at least one of the following areas: an isolated pixel area, a periodic pixel area, and a high-frequency component area. A component image separating unit 50 receives an output signal from the image area determining unit 40 and a binary signal representing a target pixel, in the data holding unit 30, which is synchronized with the output signal (synchronization is established by a synchronization control circuit (not shown)), calculates/outputs the logical AND of the two inputs through an AND gate 51, and outputs the logical AND as the pseudo-halftone component image data 18. In addition, the logical NOT of the signal from the image area determining unit 40 is performed by a NOT circuit 52, and the logical AND of the resultant signal and the pixel value signal representing the target pixel is calculated by an AND gate 53 to be output as the character/line draw component image signal 19. That is, if it is determined that a target pixel is black and located in a pseudo-halftone area, the target pixel (black pixel) is recognized as a pseudo-halftone component pixel. If it is determined that a target pixel is a black pixel and is not located in a pseudo-halftone area, the target pixel is recognized as a character/line draw component pixel. If a target pixel is a white pixel, both the signals 18 and 19 become "0". The above description is associated with the arrangement of the image area separating unit 12 and the contents of processing performed by the unit 12. Note that the threshold values respectively used by the determining sections 41 to 43 in the image area separating unit 12 are hot limited to those described above, but change in accordance with, e.g., the resolution of an input image and other states. The outline variable magnification unit 13 in Fig. 1 can be constituted by, e.g., a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-345062 (filed by the assignee of the present application in December 26, 1991). As shown in Fig. 10, the outline variable magnification unit 13 is constituted by an outline extracting unit 131, an outline smoothing/variable magnification unit 132, and a binary image reproducing unit 133. More specifically, in the outline variable magnification unit 13, the character/line draw component image signal 19 is received, and outline vectors (coarse contour vectors) are extracted from an image determined as a character/line draw component by the outline extracting unit 131. Outline vectors smoothly magnified at a desired (arbitrary) magnification in the state of the extracted outline vector expression are formed by the outline smoothing/variable magnification unit 132. A binary image is then reproduced from the smoothly magnified outline vectors by the binary image reproducing unit 133. With this processing, a high-quality character/line draw component image magnified at a desired (arbitrary) magnification is formed. The pseudo-halftone variable magnification unit 14 receives the pseudo-halftone component signal 18, and magnifies an image, determined as a pseudo-halftone component, at a desired magnification (equal to a magnification used by the outline variable magnification unit), thereby generating a high-quality magnified pseudo-halftone image. Fig. 8 shows the details of the pseudo-halftone variable magnification unit 14. Reference numeral 60 denotes an inverse quantization processing unit for temporarily restoring a pseudo-halftone image as a binary image to a multivalue image. As shown in Fig. 9, the inverse quantization processing unit 60 refers to, e.g., 16 adjacent pixels around a target pixel 330 to calculate the sum total of the product of the 16 pixels and 16 corresponding coefficients, and obtains a multivalue pixel value temporarily restored from the target pixel on the basis of the calculation result. When, for example, a binary pixel is to be converted into a multivalue pixel value corresponding to eight bits (256 gradations), the input binary data (indicating "0" or "1") of 16 pixels may be multiplied by 256/16 (= 16) ("0" or "16" is obtained as a result), and the sum total of the 16 products may be used as the multivalue data of the target pixel. In this case, the multivalue data of each target pixel takes a value, "0", "16", "32",.... As is apparent, a coefficient by which a binary pixel is multiplied may be weighted. In this inverse quantization processing, processing is performed while the target pixel position is sequentially moved in the raster scanning order, as in the processing performed by the image area separating unit. That is, multivalue outputs obtained by inverse quantization are output in the raster scanning order. In addition, the sum total of the products of 16 pixels around a target pixel and 16 corresponding coefficients can also be obtained by counting black pixels in a 16-pixel area (in this case, the calculation result is reproduced in 17 gradation levels from "0" to "16". The output, i.e., the multivalue pixel data, from the inverse quantization processing unit 60 is magnified at a desired magnification (equal to a magnification used by the outline variable magnification unit) by an SPC variable magnification processing unit 70. SPC variable magnification processing is basically known variable magnification processing of repeatedly outputting the same input pixel value to enlarge an image or thinning the same input pixel value to reduce an image, the number of times corresponding to a desired magnification. For example, this processing is disclosed in Matsumoto, Kobayashi, et al., "Study on the Effect of the Resolution Conversion on Picture Quality", The Proceedings of the Institute of Image Electronics Engineers National Conference, No. 27, 1982). In an enlarging operation, pixels are interpolated. In this case, the density of a pixel (interpolation pixel) to be interpolated may be calculated by adding the pixel data of two pixels on both sides of the interpolating position, and dividing the sum by two. A pseudo-halftone processing unit 80 binarizes the multivalue image data, which has undergone SPC variable magnification, again to obtain magnified binary image data. The pseudo-halftone processing unit 80 is constituted by, e.g., a known error diffusion processing circuit or a dither processing circuit. These pseudo-halftone processes are disclosed in, for example, "Color Hard Copy Image Processing Technique", TRICEPS, WHITE SERIES, No. 114 (1990), pp. 33 - 48. The output (binary data) from the pseudo-halftone processing unit 80 serves an output from the pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit 14, to a signal line 21. The binary image data obtained from a signal line 20 upon outline variable magnification processing and the binary image obtained from the signal line 21 upon different variable magnification processing are synthesized by the synthesizing unit 15. Fig. 11 shows the arrangement of the synthesizing unit 15. Referring to Fig. 11, reference numeral 151 denotes an image data buffer for image data which has undergone outline variable magnification processing. The image data buffer 151 serves to hold binary image data obtained from the outline variable magnification unit 13 via the signal line 20 upon outline variable magnification processing. Reference numeral 152 denotes an image data buffer for image data which has undergone pseudo-halftone variable magnification processing. The image data buffer 152 serves to hold the binary image obtained from the pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit 14 via the signal line 21 upon variable magnification processing. Reference numeral 153 denotes a synthesized image data buffer for temporarily holding image data obtained by synthesizing image data from the image data buffers 151 and 152; 154, a synchronization control circuit for performing synchronization control according to the raster scanning scheme to synchronously read out image data obtained by outline variable magnification processing and stored in the buffer 151 and image stored in the buffer 152. The magnified binary image data read out from the buffers 151 and 152 by the control of the synchronization control circuit 154 according to the raster scanning scheme are logically ORed by an OR circuit 155 for each pair of corresponding pixels. As a result, the binary image data are synthesized and temporarily stored in the image data buffer 153 according to the raster scanning scheme. The binary image output unit 16 is constituted by a hard copy apparatus such as a laser beam printer or a thermal printer for receiving image data, obtained by variable magnification processing and stored in the image data buffer 153 in the synthesizing unit 15, via a signal line 22. The binary image output unit 16 records binary image data on a paper sheet and outputs it as a hard copy. <Second Embodiment> The binary image acquiring unit 11 in the above embodiment (first embodiment) need not be an image reader but may be a binary image receiving unit, such as the receiving unit of a facsimile apparatus, which receives a binary image from an external unit by using a communication unit. The binary image output unit 16 in the above embodiment need not be a hard copy unit but may be a binary image transmitting unit, such as the transmitting unit of a facsimile apparatus, which outputs a binary image (as coded data) to an external unit by using a communication unit. The binary image output unit 16 may be an interface unit for outputting binary image data to an external storage unit such as a magnetic disc, a display unit such as a display, or the like. In addition, the binary image acquiring unit may be an interface unit for receiving binary image data from an external storage unit such as a magnetic disc or an optical disc. <Third Embodiment> The pseudo-halftone processing unit 80 constituting the pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit 14 of the above-described embodiments may use a mean density retention method (MD method) described in NIKKEI ELECTRONICS, 1992. 5. 25 Issue (No. 555), pp. 207 - 210. <Fourth Embodiment> The pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit 14 may simply magnify the pseudo-halftone component image 18, as binary image data, by SPC processing without temporarily converting the image 18 into a multivalue image by inverse quantization, and outputs, as the output 21, the binary image data obtained by the SPC variable magnification processing. In this case, the corresponding portion is simplified so that fairly good image quality can be realized at a low cost. <Fifth Embodiment> The coefficient matrix in the inverse quantization processing unit in the pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit 14 in each of the first to third embodiments is not limited to a size of 4 X 4 pixels like the one described with reference to Fig. 9. For example, the coefficient matrix may have a size of 8 x 8 or 5 x 5 pixels, as shown in Fig. 23, or may have a general size of m x n (m and n are integers) pixels such as a size of 6 x 4 pixels. In addition, all the coefficients need not be "1", but may have different values. For example, as shown in Fig. 24, coefficients corresponding to pixels closer to a target pixel may have larger values. If the size of a coefficient matrix is set in accordance with the number of gradation levels of the pseudo-halftone expression of an original image, reproduction of a more faithful multivalue image can be expected. However, such an operation leads to an increase in cost. Therefore, it is preferable that the size of a coefficient matrix be properly selected. The present invention may be applied to a system constituted by a plurality of devices or an apparatus constituted by one device. As is apparent, the present invention can be applied to a case wherein the above-described effects can be obtained by supplying programs to a system or an apparatus. It is apparent; therefore, the present invention can be constituted by, e.g., a scanner unit for reading an original image, a host computer for processing the read image data, and a printer for forming an output image. Variable magnification processing in each embodiment described above is performed for processing (resolution conversion processing) of equalizing the sizes of images having different resolutions, as in the case wherein an image input by the binary image acquiring unit 11 is different in resolution from an output from the binary image output unit 16, in addition to enlargement and reduction of images. As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when an image is to be magnified and output, a high-quality image can be obtained as a result of variable magnification processing by performing proper variable magnification processing with respect to a character/line draw component and a pseudo-halftone component, respectively. In addition, each image area is variably magnified by two independent variable magnification processes instead of one variable magnification processing, and at least some portion of an image can be variably magnified by one variable magnification process demanding low memory consumption in place of the other variable magnification process demanding high memory consumption. Therefore, the overall memory consumption can be suppressed low. The present invention may be applied to a system constituted by a plurality of devices or an apparatus constituted by one device. As is apparent, the present invention can be applied to a case wherein the above-described effects can be obtained by supplying programs to a system or an apparatus. It is, therefore, apparent that the present invention can be constituted by a scanner unit for reading an original image, a host computer for processing the read image data, and a printer for forming a corresponding output image. In addition, the present invention can be applied to a facsimile apparatus for receiving an image, performing processing according to this embodiment with respect to the input image, and outputting the processed image. Variable magnification processing in each embodiment described above is performed for processing (resolution conversion processing) of equalizing the sizes of images having different resolutions, as in the case wherein an image input by the binary image acquiring unit 3001 is different in resolution from an output from the binary image output unit 3008, in addition to enlargement and reduction of images. As has been described above, according to this embodiment, when an image is to be magnified by performing proper variable magnification processing with respect to a character/line draw component and a pseudo-halftone component, respectively, variable magnification processing suitable for the character/line draw component and variable magnification processing suitable for the pseudo-halftone component are performed with respect to the input image so as to form two images. Thereafter, the two images are selected/synthesized by image area determination. With this processing, a magnified image having good image quality can be obtained even if a determination error occurs with respect to the character/line draw component and the pseudo-halftone component. In addition, according to this embodiment, since black pixels to be input for variable magnification suitable for a character/line draw component are limited to a black pixel determined as a character/line draw component and black pixels adjacent thereto, variable magnification processing can be performed without increasing the required memory capacity and the processing time. As has been described above, according to the present invention, even if a determination error occurs with respect to a character/line draw component and a pseudo-halftone component, a magnified image having good image quality can be obtained. In addition, according to the present invention, after two images are formed by performing variable magnification processing suitable for a character/line draw component and variable magnification processing suitable for a pseudo-halftone component with respect to an input image, the two images are selected/synthesized by image area determination, thereby obtaining a magnified image having good image quality. Furthermore, according to the present invention, black pixels to be input for variable magnification suitable for a character/line draw component are limited to a black pixel determined as a character/line draw component and black pixels adjacent thereto. Therefore, variable magnification processing can be performed while an increase in required memory capacity and processing time is suppressed. In variably magnifying and outputting an image, proper variable magnification processing is performed with respect to a character/line draw component and a pseudo-halftone component, respectively. A binary image acquired by a binary image acquiring unit is supplied to an image area separating unit, in which the binary image is separated into a character/line draw area and a pseudo-halftone area. An image in the character/line draw area is supplied to an outline variable magnification unit, which performs extraction of outline vector data, smoothing processing thereof, and reproduction processing of a binary image. An image in the pseudo-halftone area is supplied to a pseudo-halftone image variable magnification unit, in which the image is subjected to multivalue conversion processing in units of pixels, variable magnification processing by thinning or interpolation of pixels, and binarization again. A synthesizing unit synthesizes binary images output from these variable magnification unit and outputs the synthesized image to a binary image output unit.

Claims: An image processing apparatus comprising input means (11) for inputting a binary image data, outline variable magnification means (13) for extracting outline vectors along edge of a black image portion from a binary image, variably magnifying the extracted outline vectors according to a variable magnification ratio, and generating a variably magnified image on the basis of the variable magnified outline vectors, pseudo-halftone variable magnification means (14), different from said outline variable magnification means, for variably magnifying a binary image, image data separating means (12) for, if determining that a pixel of interest in a binary image inputted by said input means is black and is in a character/line draw area, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said outline variable magnification means as a black pixel, while if determining that the pixel of interest is black and is in a pseudo-halftone area, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means as a black pixel, while if determining that the pixel of interest is white, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said outline variable magnification means and said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means as a white pixel, synthesizing means (15) for synthesizing image data generated by said outline variable magnification means and image data generated by said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said outline variable magnification means and said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means have variable magnifications set therein. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image data separating means includes , isolated area determining means (41) for determining whether a target pixel is in an isolated pixel area, periodicity determining means (42) for determining whether a halftone pixel is present in a target pixel and the same binary density appears at a predetermined pixel period, and high-frequency component determining means (43) for determining whether a change in density frequently occurs between adjacent pixels, and determines, on the basis of determination results obtained by said isolated area determining means, said periodicity determining means, and said high-frequency component determining means, whether a target pixel is in a character/line draw area or a pseudo-halftone area, and separates an image area on the basis of the determination result. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said outline variable magnification means includes contour vector extracting means (131) for extracting contour vector data along an edge of a provided binary image, smoothing means (132) for smoothing the extracted contour vector data, and means (133) for performing variable magnification processing of coordinate data constituting the smoothed vector data, drawing contours on the basis of the coordinate data after the variable magnification processing, and filling an area surrounded by the contours with dots. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means includes multivalue conversion means (60) for converting a target binary pixel of a provided binary image into multivalue pixel data on the basis of the target pixel and a binary pixel group adjacent to the target pixel, variable magnification means (70) for variably magnifying the multivalue pixel data obtained by said multivalue conversion means, and binarization means (80) for binarizing the variably magnified multivalue pixel data with a pseudo-gradation expression again. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising output means (16) for outputting the binary image synthesized by said synthesizing means. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said output means is a printer. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said output means is communication means for coding the binary image synthesized by said synthesizing means and outputting the coded image via a line. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising image area determining means (3002) for determining whether each pixel of a binary image belongs to a character/line draw area or a pseudo-halftone area, wherein said synthesizing means selects and synthesizes images respectively magnified by said outline variable magnification means and pseudo-halftone variable magnification means in accordance with a determination result obtained by said image area determining means. The apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising limiting means for limiting black pixels of an image determined as a character/line draw area by said image area determining means to black pixels including a character/line draw component and pixels adjacent thereto. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 9, wherein said outline variable magnification means and pseudo-halftone variable magnification means perform variable magnification processing at an arbitrary magnification. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said image area determining means includes isolated pixel determining means for determining whether a target pixel is an isolated pixel, isolated pixel area determining means for determining whether the target pixel is in an isolated pixel area, periodicity determining means for determining whether pixel values of pixels adjacent to the target pixel become the same at a predetermined pixel period, and high-frequency determining means for determining whether a change in density frequency occurs between adjacent pixels, and determines, on the basis of determination results respectively obtained by said isolated pixel determining means, said isolated pixel area determining means, said periodicity determining means, and said high-frequency component determining means, whether the target pixel is in a character/line draw area or a pseudo-halftone area. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said smoothing means changes a degree of smoothing in accordance with a length of each contour vector extracted by said contour vector extracting means. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said synthesizing means selects and synthesizes each pair of pixels respectively magnified by said outline variable magnification means and said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means by using an output from said image area determining means. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said synthesizing means comprises third variable magnification means for magnifying an output from said image area determining means at the same magnification as that set in said outline variable magnification means and said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means. An image processing method comprising inputting a binary image data, extracting outline vectors along edge of a black image portion from a binary image, variably magnifying the extracted outline vectors according to a variable magnification ratio, and generating a variably magnified image on the basis of the variable magnified outline vectors by outline variable magnification means, variably magnifying a binary image by pseudo-halftone variable magnification means, different from said outline variable magnification means; distributing data of the pixel of interest to said outline variable magnification means as a black pixel, if determining that a pixel of interest in a binary image inputted by said input means is black and is in a character/line draw area, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means as a black pixel, if determining that the pixel of interest is black and is in a pseudo-halftone area, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said outline variable magnification means and said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means as a white pixel, if determining that the pixel of interest is white, by image data separating means, synthesizing image data generated by said outline variable magnification means and image data generated by said pseudo-halftone variable magnification means by synthesizing means. The method according to claim 16, wherein the image data separating step includes the isolated area determining step of determining whether a target pixel is in an isolated pixel area, the periodicity determining step of determining whether a halftone pixel is present in a target pixel and the same binary density appears at a predetermined pixel period, and the high-frequency component determining step of determining whether a change in density frequently occurs between adjacent pixels, and determines, on the basis of determination results obtained in the isolated area determining step, the periodicity determining step, and the high-frequency component determining step, whether a target pixel is in a character/line draw area or a pseudo-halftone area, and separates an image area on the basis of the determination result. The method according to claim 16, wherein the outline variable magnification step includes the contour vector extracting step of extracting contour vector data along an edge of a provided binary image, the smoothing step of smoothing the extracted contour vector data, and the step of performing variable magnification processing of coordinate data constituting the smoothed vector data, drawing contours on the basis of the coordinate data after the variable magnification processing, and filling an area surrounded by the contours with dots. The method according to claim 16, wherein the pseudo-halftone variable magnification step includes the multivalue conversion step of converting a target binary pixel of a provided binary image into multivalue pixel data on the basis of the target pixel and a binary pixel group adjacent to the target pixel, the variable magnification step of variably magnifying the multivalue pixel data obtained in the multivalue conversion step, and the binarization step of binarizing the variably magnified multivalue pixel data with a pseudo-gradation expression again. The method according to claim 16, further comprising an output step of outputting the binary image synthesized in the synthesizing step. The method according to claim 20, wherein the output step includes the step of outputting a synthesized image to a printer. The method according to claim 20, wherein the output step includes the step of coding the binary image synthesized in the synthesizing step to output the coded image to predetermined communication means via a line. The method according to claim 16, comprising determining whether each pixel of a binary image belongs to a character/line draw area or a pseudo-halftone area, wherein said step of synthesizing uses the result obtained in the image area determining step. The method according to claim 23, wherein the black pixels, of the image, which are to be variably magnified in the outline variable magnification step are limited to a black pixel determined as a pixel in a character/line draw area by using the result in the image area determining step, and black pixels adjacent the black pixel. The method according to claim 23, wherein a magnification in each of the magnification steps can be set to be an arbitrary value. The method according to claim 23, wherein the image area determining step includes the isolated central pixel determining step of determining whether a target pixel is an isolated pixel, the isolated pixel area determining step of determining whether the target pixel is in an isolated pixel area, the periodicity determining step of determining whether pixel values become the same at a predetermined pixel period, and the high-frequency component determining step of determining whether a change in density frequency occurs between adjacent pixels, and determines, on the basis of determination results respectively obtained in the isolated central pixel determining step, the isolated pixel area determining step, the periodicity determining step, and the high-frequency component determining step, whether the target pixel is in a character/line draw area or a pseudo-halftone area. The method according to claim 18, wherein the smoothing step includes changing a degree of smoothing in accordance with a length of each contour vector extracted in the contour vector extracting step. The method according to claim 23, wherein the synthesizing step includes selecting and synthesizing each pair of pixels respectively magnified in the magnification steps by using the result obtained in the image area determining step. The method according to claim 23, wherein the synthesizing step comprises the third variable magnification step of magnifying a result obtained in the image area determining step at the same magnification as that set in the first and second variable magnification steps. A computer readable storage medium storing codes, comprising a program code for inputting a binary image data, a program code for an outline variable magnification step for extracting outline vectors along edge of a black image portion from a binary image, variably magnifying the extracted outline vectors according to a variable magnification ratio, and generating a variably magnified image on the basis of the variable magnified outline vectors, a program code for a pseudo-halftone variable magnification step, different from said outline variable magnification step for variably magnifying a binary image, a program code for an image data separating step for, if determining that a pixel of interest in a binary image is black and is in a character/line draw area, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said outline variable magnification step as a black pixel, while if determining that the pixel of interest is black and is in a pseudo-halftone area, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said pseudo-halftone variable magnification step as a black pixel, while if determining that the pixel of interest is white, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said outline variable magnification step and said pseudo-halftone variable magnification step as a white pixel, a program code for a synthesizing step for synthesizing image data generated by said outline variable magnification step and image data generated by said pseudo-halftone variable magnification step. A computer program product stored in a computer, comprising a program code for inputting a binary image data, a program code for an outline variable magnification step for extracting outline vectors along edge of a black image portion from a binary image, variably magnifying the extracted outline vectors according to a variable magnification ratio, and generating a variably magnified image on the basis of the variable magnified outline vectors, a program code for a pseudo-halftone variable magnification step, different from said outline variable magnification step for variably magnifying a binary image, a program code for an image data separating step for, if determining that a pixel of interest in a binary image is black and is in a character/line draw area, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said outline variable magnification step as a black pixel, while if determining that the pixel of interest is black and is in a pseudo-halftone area, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said pseudo-halftone variable magnification step as a black pixel, while if determining that the pixel of interest is white, distributing data of the pixel of interest to said outline variable magnification step and said pseudo-halftone variable magnification step as a white pixel, a program code for a synthesizing step for synthesizing image data generated by said outline variable magnification step and image data generated by said pseudo-halftone variable magnification step.

Inventors: ISHIDA YOSHIHIRO, KOGA SHINICHIRO, SHIGEEDA NOBUYUKI, ISHIDA, YOSHIHIRO, KOGA, SHINICHIRO, SHIGEEDA, NOBUYUKI, ISHIDA, YOSHIHIRO, C/O CANON K.K., KOGA, SHINICHIRO, C/O CANON K.K., SHIGEEDA, NOBUYUKI, C/O CANON K.K.
Applicants: CANON KK, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1994
Main classification: H04N1
IPC codes: H04N1, G06T5